They are tall, they are long, and in the second half, the Dell Rapids Quarriers proved to be too much at the Cavalier Classic at Roncalli Gym.
Dell Rapids pulled away from a three-point halftime lead with a dominating second-half performance in a 50-31 non-conference boys’ basketball victory over Aberdeen Roncalli. The Cavaliers managed just three total field goals in the final 16 minutes of action.
“They had great pressure on us all game long, so we weren’t able to get Maddox (Miller) a lot of good looks or Keegan (Stewart),” said Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher, “but we rushed a lot of shots that didn’t need to be taken, mid-range that’s just not in our offense, some deep threes that are just uncharacteristic of us, but their defense really stepped it up.”
The Quarriers opened the third quarter by scoring a dozen unanswered points to build a double-digit lead they never lost.
“I think we’re starting to find our identity a little bit and our identity might not be outscoring teams 80-70,” said Dell Rapids coach Ty Hoglund. “It’s just kind of controlling the tempo of the game, taking care of the ball, getting really good shots. We preach good to great shots, and I thought our guys did a great job of really taking that and putting it on the court.”
The tone for the final half was set when the Quarriers nailed a three-point field goal just 13 seconds in the third quarter to send Dell Rapids on its pivotal surge.
“The guy who hit it is Lincoln Fersdahl and he’s kind of our glue-guy,” Hoglund said. “He’s just solid as a rock, pretty steady-eddie and when he did that, I think it kind of got everybody joined in on the same goal. It was really fun to see them come together and fight like that on the defensive end.”
With 6-foot-9 Rhett Kloth and his 6-10 brother Jack patrolling the lane, along with 6-6 forward Tad Tjaden, the Cavaliers found the going tough inside. As a result, they ended up having to settle for perimeter attempts.
“I wouldn’t say we live and die from the perimeter, but I say that’s where our strong suit is,” Miller said. “We have some really good shooters on the team, and I think we just need to come together and find other ways to score other than the 3-point line. It’s kind of hard when they’re super tall and super lanky.”
The Quarriers made sure they knew where Miller was at all game long, and the senior sharp shooter did not get many open looks. He said the Cavaliers will need to find a way to get easier baskets.
“I think we need to figure how to get out of a drought and kind of get back hot into it,” Miller said, “and I think that’s going to come from getting to the rim and then work back out and get the 3-pointers.”
Gallagher pointed out that the Cavaliers came up empty on 43 of their 58 possessions in the contest.
“A lot of that credit goes to Dells,” Gallagher said, “because they’re length affected all of our shots, that’s for sure.”
Roncalli also did not help its cause with numerous turnovers as well, which prevented the Cavaliers from getting into a rhythm.
“Valuing the basketball was a big problem for us tonight. That was one of our keys going in,” Gallagher said. “We’ve done a great job so far this year of maintaining possessions, getting lots of possessions. Today that just wasn’t the case.”
Jack Henry led Dell Rapids with 19 points. Rhett Kloth had six points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots.
Miller topped Roncalli with 11 points. The Cavaliers, 1-2 on the season, travel to Groton on Thursday to face another quality foe in a demanding stretch of games to start off the season.
“I think we’re going to have a couple of tough games, but I think we can stick through them,” Miller said, “and I think we’re a good enough team to hang through and have a good season this year.”
DELL RAPIDS (2-2): Tad Tjaden 4 1-2 9, Lincoln Fersdahl 2 0-0 6, Rhett Kloth 3 0-3 6, Cole Ruesink 2 1-2 5, Jack Henry 9 0-2 19, Drake Eastman 2 0-0 5. Totals 22 2-9 50.
ABERDEEN RONCALLI (1-2): Caden Shelton 1 1-2 4, Keegan Stewart 2 0-2 6, Parker Grieben 1 1-2 3, Maddox Miller 3 4-4 11, Aiden Fisher 2 0-0 4, Bryson Olson 1 1-4 3. Totals 10 7-14 31.
Dell Rapids 15 26 42 50
Aberdeen Roncalli 14 23 29 31
3-point field goals – Fersdahl (2), Henry, Eastman; Shelton, Stewart (2), Miller. Total fouls – Dell Rapids 16; Aberdeen Roncalli 17. Rebounds – Dell Rapids 37 (Kloth 9); Aberdeen Roncalli 33 (Grieben 8). Turnovers – Dell Rapids 12; Aberdeen Roncalli 16. Blocked Shots – Dell Rapids 9 (Kloth 6); Aberdeen Roncalli 1.
